Marie Day - McHenry County College

When I took over the AVL program at McHenry County College I inherited an Access database that was used to track volunteer and student information.  The database was, at that time, supported by our IT department.  When the college moved to a new main frame database system, our IT department no longer helped with my Access database.  They “cut me loose”!  The database had over 15,000 student names and over 1,000 volunteer names.  It ran so slowly and when asked to pull reports it simply sat there.   ​]

​Last year I hired an Access database consultant from Computer Software Professionals.  Audrey developed a database to accommodate my AVL program.  We entered all data and now are extremely happy with the results!  We can find any information about students and/or volunteers, we can make reports customized to our needs, and we can accurately track not only the hours our volunteers work but we actually get notified if someone is failing to report their hours regularly.

I struggled for many years with reporting and tracking but now it is so easy!  I highly recommend this system to any programs that have the AVL grant.  Since Audrey worked on our system she has become familiar with what we need to track and how we need to report statistics.  She did an amazing job! 

Testimonials

Database Consulting

We have developed many types of databases. We have created an adult literacy database tracking student data, volunteer data, testing information and all tutoring sessions. In addition, we have created a construction referral database, vendor database, animal health database, and a visit tracking database. We also will consult on your existing database and make necessary changes to a non-working database.  We have improved existing databases with a shipping company, a landscaping and irrigation company and a realty database. 

​Lesley Goldberg - Program Coordinator Read to Learn Adult Literacy/Volunteer Program

​Township High School District 214 Community Education

​​After reading a write up in the Illinois State Library Literacy Newsletter regarding a new database that was designed for McHenry Community College’s literacy program, I made contact with Audrey of Computer Software Professionals.

The Township High School District 214 Community Education Read to Learn Adult Literacy/Volunteer program’s student database was in desperate need of fixing or replacement.  Audrey met with me for a one-hour free consultation.  She showed me the database that she designed for McHenry Community College’s literacy program.  I was extremely impressed.  After receiving the go ahead for funding this project, I began making lists of fields of information that we require for various reports/projects.  During this process Audrey and I went back and forth thru phone calls, emails and texts.  The end result is a very reliable database, which generated the majority of our reports needed as data was entered.  Upon opening the database the home screen shows menu options for all our data needs.  One click brings us to the screen we need at any given time.  Accessing student data is simple.

One thing I need to stress is that throughout the process of developing the new database, Audrey was so easy to work with.  Because Audrey was not familiar with our program and I was not familiar with her method of building the database, there were times that changes needed to be made.  A few times I realized I had left out a field that was needed.  Audrey took everything in stride and was a pleasure to work with. 

Once the database was up and running, I found I had a few questions regarding the ability to query information that was not already built into the database and how to check a box without manually doing it using a mouse.  I would text or email Audrey and she was extremely quick to respond. 

If you are looking for someone who really knows how to develop a workable Access database, I highly recommend Audrey of Computer Software Professionals.  She has made my job so much less stressful.